A great deal of attention is given to selecting special woods for making guitars. All are valuable, aged and pre-treated. Val di Flemme red spruce for the tops, European curly maple, Brazilian rosewood, African mahogany and ebony, and European peer wood are the principal woods, which are selected; woods with the best inherent value and the longest natural aging.
The acoustic outcome however, does not depend only on the previous characteristics. The luthier skillfully pre-treats the woods, which sets the real value of the instrument. Moreover in acoustic and semi-acoustic guitars, there is not a direct correlation between the kind of wood and the sound obtained. (for example maple = bright sound) The resulting sound is obtained by the working of the wood by the luthier.
In Archtop acoustic guitars, the soundboard or arched top, the core of the instrument, is always made of spruce, which creates the acoustic quality of sound. Spruce has always been used by the classical luthier for violin, viola, cello and bass instruments. It has the best acoustic output, because of its parallel and regular fibers of the grain, and allows the vibrations to move along the soundboard.
The back and sides are made of flame maple for aesthetic reasons, as well as creating a sound resonating chamber for the instrument. This completes the body of the instrument. Occasionally, other woods have been used.
Unlike acoustic guitars, semi-acoustics are instruments played fundamentally though the pickup. Therefore their body is not hollow, but is equipped with a brace or a center block, linking the top and back to suppress the feedback. It’s not necessary in this case to have a top made of spruce. It can be made of various types of woods and each is valid to obtain the desired output. Therefore, the spruce top is not a “required” choice, as in the acoustic guitars.
The solid or semi-solid electric guitars are not as affected by the woods used. It is the pickups and electronics that add mainly to their sound. However, woods for these guitars may still be selected for some electric sound qualities as well as cosmetic appearance.
The acoustic guitar, with a floating pickup, is also affected by the luthier's construction, design, bracing, carving, bridge, tailpiece and selection of pickup and electronics. All these features lend to the sound of the guitar.